1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to clean rooms of the type used in research projects involving laboratory animals or the like and usually employ a blower, filter, and ducts to supply air under positive pressure to an area, or to create a negative pressure in the area, e.g. by exhausting filtered air out of the area.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A typical application for a clean room application of the type with which this invention is concerned would be in a life science laboratory where lab animal colonies are housed. Multiple colonies (groups/herds) are commonly housed in a building with multiple clean rooms. In most cases researchers are trying to keep these colonies disease free, in which the clean room with the positive pressure controlled space would house the colony. But, if the colony did contract a disease, or if the colony of animals under study were purposely diseased, the researchers could reverse the design, with the diseased colony now being in the negative pressure controlled space. This reversal of pressure could be done very quickly with the present invention. The industry has developed a new term of art to define this ability to reverse the pressure space as needed: Inclusion/Exclusion.
Some of the many patents which have been issued for the design of clean air rooms and equipment therefor include: U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,824,909; 4,531,956; 4,804,392; 4,929,262; 5,312,465; 5,645,480; and 6,080,060. These patents are cited to illustrate different systems for providing a clean air room. The applicant""s U.S. Pat. No. 4,804,392 is typical of structures defined by vinyl walls over a framework, which structure allows for air feed into or removal from a clean room. Applicant""s U.S. Pat. No. 5,645,480 shows a later design wherein the filter-blower is mounted on a separate frame for easier detachment from the clean room and movement. Quite often these so-called portable clean room structures are used in older buildings to obtain and maintain clean areas without the trouble and expense of major renovation to the building spaces themselves.
This invention is directed to a clean air room which has at least one quickly installed divider wall for providing the clean room selectively with a positive or negative pressure. In an arrangement with two dividers within the clean room, separate spaces, one for positive pressure and the other for negative pressure, could be defined. The system includes at least one HEPA filter in combination with at least one blower and suitable ducts through which air flow is directed into or from the clean air room or separate spaces defined within it. One of these separate spaces could be set up between the divider wall and an entrance door into the clean room as an airlock for researchers entering or exisiting the clean room.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a clean air room having at least one quickly installed room divider.
Another object is to provide ducts for directing clean air into the room or air out of the room.
Yet another object is to provide a quick and easy way to convert a duct from directing air into a room to create a positive pressure environment or directing air from the room to create negative pressure environment.